


Playing Hooky

by perletwo



Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV), The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Age Regression/De-Aging, Gen, Pre-Slash
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-12-21
Updated: 2013-12-21
Packaged: 2018-01-04 13:50:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,740
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1081756
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/perletwo/pseuds/perletwo
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When Agent Coulson's new team hits the skids, he turns to the Avengers - and Hawkeye - for help.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Playing Hooky

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Darkmagyk](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Darkmagyk/gifts).



> Thanks to thefrogg for the beta service!
> 
> ETA: With benefit of hindsight as we go into s3 of Agents of SHIELD, I feel I should state that this was written, and is set, during, oh let's call it the first half of season 1. Before the team, y'know, _changed._ Drastically.

JARVIS' alert had all the Avengers rushing to the nearest computer console. A SHIELD jet was in need of an emergency landing, and its pilot of record was down, leaving an agent without flight skills to bring her in.

Hawkeye took charge of the microphone as soon as JARVIS issued an ATIS code to the de facto pilot, now barely 10 miles off from Avengers Tower. "Okay, Agent, we're gonna go through the pre-landing checklist. Just relax, I'll talk you through it all the way."

"Good to know," came a familiar dry voice down the line, and Clint looked up at Tony, whose eyebrows rose. "What's up first?"

"Brakes check. That'll be -" Tony gestured and an image of the jet's control console appeared on the glass in front of him. "- bottom row, third control from the left. Got it?" An affirmative grunt, and he continued. "Next to that is the undercarriage control, make sure it's down and locked. ...Fuel mixture should be fully rich. Oil temps and pressure should be showing green. Master on. ...Landing lights on. Good."

"Got it. Now I start descent, right? What's my angle?"

"You'll want a 45 degree angle to the landing pad, so -" again Tony punched up a figure on screen, and Clint nodded. "- 500 fpm. Miles out?"

"Five miles out." The voice was calm, but Clint recognized the stretched-wire sound of tension beneath the words.

"Start slowing to 80 to 85 knots on approach," Clint said. "Engine should be running about 2000 RPMs."

"That's an affirmative."

"Clear for landing, Sirs," JARVIS said.

Clint talked the pilot through the final descent, and let out a breath he hadn't realized he was holding once the jet braked.

"Done," came the voice, with a thread of relief in it. "Good to have your voice in my ear again, Agent Barton."

"Yeah," Clint said hollowly. "You too, Sir." But Coulson had already clicked the radio off.

*****

The team assembled on the roof to meet the jet. Coulson descended the ramp and shook Stark and Barton's hands. "Thanks for the assist. Had me sweating for a second there."

"Yeah, no prob." Clint's voice was flat. "So what's happened to your regular pilot?" He glanced behind Coulson, looking for the rest of the team.

"Are there casualties, Agent?" Dr. Banner asked. "Should we -"

"NATTIE!!!" The shout came in a loud, high-pitched voice and was followed by a blur of black hair and waving limbs. Black Widow automatically shifted into combat stance, but the whirlwind leapt off the ground and wrapped four limbs around her waist and shoulders, giggling. "LET'S GO PLAY!"

"...Agent May?" Natasha ventured, studying the girl in her arms. Melinda May, if this bundle of glee was indeed her old friend, looked to be about eight or nine years old. 

"MA-AAY!" A dark-haired boy ran down the ramp after her. "I TOLD you we should wait for the grown-ups to talk first!" He reached up to tug at the hem of May's oversized - adult-sized - t-shirt.

"Agent Ward." Clint's voice was still flat, and his eyes were still on Coulson.

A grown woman, albeit a young one, shepherded two more children down the ramp. "Everyone, this is Skye, a consultant on my team." Coulson put a hand on her shoulder. "Skye, meet the Avengers."

"Um. Hi." She fixed nervously on Black Widow, who eyed her suspiciously. "I was stuck on the Bus monitoring with the boss while the rest of the team went where the action was. And got zapped."

"The trouble is that the zap took out our biology expert. Neither Skye nor I are slouches, but we just don't have the chops to solve this," Coulson said.

"Thought you had a biologist on board, Sir," Barton said. "And a tech guy."

"Ah. Yes. Simmons' theory involved midichlorians -" a high voice fluted in protest, and Coulson's indes finger came up in warning.

"That finger ought'a be registered as a weapon," Skye muttered. Barton, standing beside her, muttered back, "It is."

"- and Fitz's solution involved building a Rube Goldberg device and a monkey -"

"For testin' - !" The finger rose sharply again, and silence fell.

"- so we brought the team here."

"We'll do whatever we can. Of course," Bruce said, and nudged the children like a line of ducklings toward the door.

"...you're not gonna be givin' us _shots,_ are ye?" they heard Fitz pipe up as they entered the stairwell.

*****

In the lab, Stark, Banner and Skye reviewed video footage of the "zap" that de-aged Coulson's team. Romanoff, May and Ward settled into the gym to "play" - or spar, as the case may be - and Barton simply disappeared.

Coulson found him standing on the roof. "I'm sorry," he offered, and Clint shrugged.

"They kept me on a pretty close leash after what I did to the helicarrier. No big surprise you'd wanna play things close to the vest too."

"I didn't _want_ to, Bar - Clint. It just worked out that way. I was ... in Tahiti ... for a lengthy recovery; it was months before I was up to talking with anyone at all, much less picking up the threads of my old life. By the time I was, I found out you'd been kept in the dark."

Clint risked a glance at Coulson's profile. "You knew how it'd play, us being told you died. It fused the team together. I know I wasn't supposed to be _on_ the team originally -"

"You _were_ , Clint, you and Tasha -"

"- but once I was I can see how you couldn't risk giving away the game." Another shrug.

"You're not just another agent and you're not just one of the Avengers, Clint." Phil turned to face him. "You're - you were my - we were friends, before, I thought?"

Clint shrugged. "Yeah. I can see where me joining up with the guy who shanked you'd prob'ly kill that kind'a trust though."

"I'd already read the sitreps by then, Clint. I knew Loki took away your free will. I'm just sorry I 'died' before I knew you'd gotten it back." Phil put a hand on Clint's shoulder. "I know it doesn't feel like it, but you weren't responsible for the things you did on the helicarrier." He looked down, sighed. "I also know your head can hear that and know it six ways from Sunday and it won't make it _feel_ true. But at a bare minimum I need you to believe I don't hold anything that happened against you personally."

"That's....nice." Clint's shoulders hunched. "So I guess we can go our separate ways with a clean slate then."

"...I don't follow."

Another shrug. "You got a new team. You don't want me along. That's fine. I get it."

"Clint. Not working with you doesn't mean I don't want to be friends with you. If anything I - I kinda hoped -" Phil bit his lip, and Clint waited him out. "I hoped we could - see each other. Socially. Outside of work. I mean, I know my team's all over the place and the Avengers are in high demand, but -"

"When you say 'see each other' do you mean like, hang out 'n stuff, or like -"

"Like whatever you're comfortable with, Clint."

"I dunno _what_ I'm comfortable with, Coulson. I mean, do I call you 'Phil' now? Are we like, buddies, or -"

"Or what? And Phil is fine, by the by."

".... are you asking me on a date? Phil?"

"Maybe. Possibly. If you want it to be." Phil reached for Clint's hand. "Or not, if you don't. I don't know what it's likely to turn into. All I do know for sure is, I've missed you."

Clint smiled broadly. "Missed you too, Sir."

Phil beamed. "Well. Okay. Then it just comes down to scheduling. Right?"

*****

In the lab, Banner watched Skye's hands dance over a computer keyboard, and jump away as if shocked. "What was that? You all right?" He took her hands, studied them.

"Um. I'm kind of on probation?" She tapped the bracelet on one wrist. "I'm a hacker, and they caught me, umm, giving an old hacker friend a heads-up we were coming for him. So now I wear this thing, and it tracks everything I do online. Zaps if I try to go into restricted areas. I think A.C. can reset the parameters in an emergency situation, though."

"I'll get him -" Skye caught Bruce's hand. "No! It's no big deal. Really. Bad enough I had my hand in the cookie jar, I don't wanna be the gal that whines about being put in time-out too. I'll just talk you through the keystrokes, okay?"

"Sure," Bruce said, but eyed the bracelet disapprovingly.

*****

An hour later, Skye and Bruce walked into the gym. "We've got a working antidote," she said, holding up a syringe. "Ward, if you'll -"

"Nuh-UH. No shots," Ward snapped. "Not from you."

"Agent Ward!" Coulson and Barton entered the gym. "You will -" May interrupted by blowing a raspberry.

"He's just being a big _baby,_ " she said, and rolled up a sleeve for Skye to administer the shot.

For a moment nothing happened. Then her body began to stretch and morph, and May stood up again as her adult self. Natasha's eyes narrowed as she watched the child's careless joy disappear from her old friend's face, replaced by the burden of bad memories.

Bruce drew a second syringe of liquid from a flask, and though still pouting Ward allowed him to administer it. 

"Thank you," he said to Bruce, and then with jaw muscles tight added, "and thank _you,_ " to Skye. Pride shone on the young woman's face as she nodded.

Tony entered the gym as Fitz and Simmons regained their proper stature. He clapped his hands, rubbed his palms together, and said, "So! You guys staying to dinner? I'm thinking we'll order in Italian - Ai Fiori okay? - I know I'd like a chance to chat up the famous FitzSimmons, and Pepper'd love to see you up and about again, Agent."

Phil glanced at Clint. "I think we could all use a night off, Stark. Thanks."

May gave the rest of her team the side-eye and a scowl. "I don't know about you guys, but I could use a shower."

"I don't know about you guys, but I'm _starving!_ " Simmons said. "It must be because of the energy-to-matter transfer ratio..."

Coulson smiled and put an arm around Clint's shoulder. "It's so nice to have the whole family together, the grown-ups, the new kids..."

&&&&&end&&&&


End file.
